"Sir, it's 7:45am," JARVIS announced into the occupied bedroom.

"Shut up," he mumbled in return, snuggling deeper against his pillow and tugging the comforter to pull it right over his head to block the sunlight that was coming in through the blinds.

"Need I remind you of the meeting you are expected to attend?"

"You suck." He slowly turned on his back, careful not to wake Pepper, who was on her side pressed up against him, her arm draped across his chest. He tried to stretch the best he could and sighed. Last night was the best sleep he had gotten since forever.

He'd been trying to do better, but it a process and the important thing was to recognize his faults and learn from it. He was coming around and he hoped she could understand it took time for him to get things right.

She looked peaceful and he didn't want to risk getting out of bed and waking her. It was a bad idea, but who cared? Her hair was mussed and her lips were parted as she breathed in and out. She looked adorable, so why disturb a face like hers? But he had no choice but to, he had to go into SI. He had a meeting at nine to take care of, then he'd surprise her by actually going to school. It was overdue.

"Can you stop watching me sleep?" One of her eyes cracked open and it completely took him by surprise.

"I was actually trying to figure out a way how to wake you up," he said, his hand sliding up and down the length of her back. Her body reacted instantly and arched under his touch.

"You don't hear my phone ringing in the bathroom?"

He heard it once Pepper mentioned it, puzzled as to why he hadn't until now.

She sat up, covering her chest with the blanket. "You're not gonna kiss me?"

Tony wasn't sure he could, but since she went out of her way to ask...might as well. He reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand and brought her on top of him, kissing her as he applied pressure to her tailbone and got her body closer to his. He could feel the swell of her breasts press against his torso and suddenly a state of arousal made itself evident. A small groan escaped the back of his throat.

"You are so easy to get riled up." She kissed him once more and went back to the position she had woke up in, enjoying the warmness that was his arm wrapped around her. She wanted sleep, but today was Tuesday. A school day.

"I got excited." He wasn't even embarrassed.

"Yeah, so did I...but I didn't get that excited."

"Hahaha." He faked laughed, hearing her giggles muffle into the comforter. "If you were a guy, you'd understand." He squirmed, unable to get comfortable. Twice in eight hours. He needed a cold shower.

"If I were you, I'd be kinda worried. Doesn't it hurt?"

He shrugged. "I'll take care of it in the shower. Which I should take now since it's already eight."

"What?! Eight?" She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "Oh my God!" She panicked and pushed herself off of him. "School started 15 minutes ago!"

"Relax, it's history. You're not gonna learn anything that's not in the book," Tony told her, hoping it'd calm her down, although he was finding their situation amusing. Pepper was too much of a good girl.

"I had perfect attendance! Now it's ruined all because of you."

"You'll be there in time for second period." He hopped off the bed and picked up the clothes he'd thrown onto the floor last night. "Just give me another thirty to shower and I'll drive you to school after."

"Thirty?! Are you serious?"

"Hey, you can't look this good skipping steps."

Pepper rolled her eyes and watched as Tony disappeared into the bathroom. Leaning over the bed to grab her dress, she grinned.

He was just about finished in the bathroom when the scent of bacon invaded his senses. He walked out the door and into the living room hearing the clattering of pots being tossed into the sink and the sound of water following. She must had heard him because she turned to look at him with a smile. Shooting her the same smile, he went up to her and looked over her shoulder to confirm his suspicion that she'd taken time out to make breakfast.

"You made breakfast," he stated.

"Yes." She chuckled. "Sit down. I'm almost finished."

He looked at her curiously as she turned her back on him. What'd I do to deserve this? "What about school?" Thirty minutes ago she was freaking out about missing class and now she was making bacon and eggs. Looking across the counter, he spotted a glass of smoothie. He reached over for it and took a sip out of it. It baffled him how Pepper could make all this.

"I decided to take a page out of your book and skip class for the day."

"What?" He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Well, only until third period," she modified as she turned around with a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast. "Here. It's sort of my way of apologizing."

He looked down at the delicious food before slowly making his way back up to meet her gaze. His face obviously told her she needed to elaborate.

"I've been kind of a bitch to you and it took you calling me out on it to realize it, so I'm sorry. You were right. I should be more aware of what you're going through; I'm gonna do my best to work on it."

He was not going to argue with that. "Sounds good." The first mouthful was delicious, as well as the ones following it. But then again he couldn't remember the last time he had a meal that didn't come in a box.

"Good?"

"Amazing," he groaned out in bliss as he took a big bite of the toast.

"Don't choke," she warned him, but her amusement was quite clear as she started on her own breakfast. "So what are you doing today," she hesitantly asked, some minutes later, breaking through the comfortable silence they'd surrounded themselves in.

"I have a meeting at nine to go to and another before lunch. Need to look over and sign some papers before the 5 o'clock deadline. Maybe hit the gym."

"You've been working out a lot."

"Yeah, I saw you staring," Tony teased, causing her cheeks to blush in embarrassment.

Pepper teased back. "Is that a problem?"

"No," he said, not missing a beat. "It's nice to know my efforts aren't going unnoticed."

Pepper watched a smug smile cross his lips and she shook her head.

"What do you have planned?" Before she could respond, Tony cut her off. "Wait, let me guess...homework, studying, dinner, maybe studying, bedtime."

"I'm not a nerd."

"Oh, that's right. I'm the nerd. You just act like one," he responded, giving Pepper a hard time.

"For your information, I actually have plans tonight."

He popped a fruit into his mouth and was surprised at hearing that from her. "Really? Tell me."

"I'm going to the movies."

He couldn't help but chuckle at how proud she was. "I thought you were actually going out to do something exciting."

"That's exciting!"

"Disneyland's exciting, Universal Studios and Magic Mountain, the beach...that kind of stuff. People go to the movies all the time. It's not that exciting."

"Just for that comment you don't get this." Pepper took the last strip of bacon and took a bite of it.

"You're assuming I wanted it."

"But?"

"But I didn't. I'm actually full."

She wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not. She'd seen Tony eat and he could eat a lot more.

"So about this break," he said, giving her some time to adjust to the new topic. He met her eyes warily and sighed. "I know I said I wanted one, and I'm not taking it back, but we can still be around one another, right? I don't want to close you off completely and, I don't know, just us being like this kinda makes me forget about the stress and all I have to do at Stark Industries. I want to keep that, Pep."

She shot him a warm smile. "Of course. Whatever you want." She was his escape from it all and if he needed that, so be it. It wasn't an inconvenience and for all intents and purposes, it never would be.

He nodded, glad to have heard that. "I'm going to grab my stuff and then we'll go." He got up, stopped in front of her and locked his gaze with hers before dipping his sight towards her lips and then back up. His lips captured hers in a gentle and tender kiss before pressing an additional three quick ones.

Pepper pulled back with a smile on her face, and before she knew it he had taken the strip of bacon off her plate. She heard him quip 'yoink' as he turned his back on her to leave the kitchen. "Tony," she chastised. All she heard from him was high pitched giggling.

Tony smiled as he spotted Pepper out at the quad during lunch. Today was Friday and he had told her he couldn't make it to class today, but something at Stark Industries came up and changed his plans.

He held his finger up to his lips to quiet her friends that had seen him coming up. Closing the remaining distance between them, he delicately tapped Pepper's back and watched as her eyes light up when she turned around and realized who it had been.

"What are you doing here?! I thought you were in meetings all afternoon." Nonetheless, she couldn't hide her excitement.

"It got canceled," he explained, joining the girls.

"Three days in a row. That's a record," Scarlett pointed out. She and Tony have known each other since middle school and their relationship was always sarcastic at best.

"Yeah, you're really funny," he replied, giving her a quick glance before turning to Pepper. "Hey, baby."

"Baby?" She pulled away when Tony tried to kiss her cheek.

"Hey," Tony frowned.

"You never call me that, and if you do, it's because you did something I don't like."

"I didn't do anything! I'm hurt you'd think that."

Scarlett and Kristin watched their banter unfold, giving each other curious glances.

"There's the glue in my hair thing, the telling everyone we had sex thing. Should I keep going, Tony?"

"To be fair, you're the one who did the telling everyone we had sex thing. If you're gonna call me out on my bullshit, at least get it right."

She rolled her eyes and tried not to pay attention to him any longer, which worked for about eight seconds before he continuously started poking her side with his finger.

"Tony!" Pepper turned and grabbed his hand, setting it on his lap and silently telling him to keep his hand to himself.

"So are you ready for your parents' funeral?"

"Scarlett!" Pepper was the one who voiced it, but both her and Kristin turned to give Scarlett the 'what the hell is wrong with you' stare.

"No, it's fine." He turned to Scarlett and smirked. "Somebody's still sour about me not taking them to homecoming."

"Please," she scoffed.

"What? How come I didn't know about this," Pepper asked, glancing at her friend and then her boyfriend. "This is weird. What happened? Were you ever gonna tell me?"

"Relax, Pepper," Scarlett said. "Nothing happened. We've never kissed."

"Let's keep it that way," Tony quipped back.

Kristin shook her head. "They're always like this, it's nothing different."

"She's right," he told Pepper before stealing one of her chips. "Are you done eating? I want to show you something."

"Okay," she responded cautiously, getting up and grabbing hold of his hand before turning to her friends. "I guess I'll see you guys later."

"I don't understand how Pepper puts up with him," Scarlett said, the both of them watching them leave.

"Wait, you have to cover your eyes," Tony said, putting his hands over her eyes. "It'll ruin it if you don't."

"Tony!" Frustrated, she swatted his hands away. "I don't like this secretive stuff. Could you just tell me?"

"I swear it's nothing bad. Can you please just do it?" Tony put on his best puppy face and frowned at her.

"Alright," she exasperated. "But I can't see."

"Oh," he realized. Grabbing her shirt, he led the way.

"You get this means I trust you a lot, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," he dismissed. It wasn't like he was purposely going to run her into a wall or pole. Though he had to admit, it was something he would do, but he couldn't. He was trying to fix all the shit he pulled on Pepper and they were trying to get back to how it once was and truth be told, he wanted that.

"Oh, I thought of a really awesome Valentine's Day idea during my meeting."

"Really?" Her curiosity peaked, then as soon as it came, it dropped. "Wait, that's not good!" Her hands dropped. "You're supposed to be paying attention! They're saying a lot of important things in there."

"Hands!" He grabbed them and put them on her face again. "And I did. Your dad was there and I had to be on my best behavior."

"Oh, so you were trying to win his approval."

"I don't need his approval." He cleared his throat. "But if you would, tell him to stop giving me the death glare. It creeps me out."

"I'm not going to tell him."

"It's because I called him Richard, isn't it? I panicked. He's got to know that."

"Well, maybe if you..." She lost her train of thought when she heard what she thought was a bark. "Where are we? Did I just hear a dog?" The barking sound became more prevalent. Then she heard an unmistakable noise that was an opening of a car door.

"I got a buddy," Tony proudly said.

Pepper took her hands off her eyes and watched as he took out a cage. She was unable to hide her excitement once she saw its face. "Oh my God, it's so cute!" She dropped to her knees and tried to pet the puppy the best she could. The dog didn't look more than two months old.

"Shetland Shepard," he replied when Pepper asked what kind of dog he had gotten. "He's six weeks old."

"Take him out."

"No. I just got him. I don't need him running away from me."

"Why not? He keeps barking." She watched as the puppy sat down, its eyesight wandering to Tony almost as if he was agreeing with Pepper. "See, he agrees with me. Don't keep him cooped up in there."

"I have to get Snickers to the vet. He might catch something. Besides, he just likes you because you're new. I'll prove it to you." Tony got on his knees himself and immediately turned Snickers' attention away from her.

"When you do, can I come over?"

"You know the entire time we've been going out, you never once voluntarily wanna come to my house."

"You're not this cute," she teased.

"That's mean."

Pepper chuckled. "I'm joking. Of course you're cuter than him. Snickers' just new cute. But you know what?" She stood up so she could be at eye level and closer to him. "The thought of you taking care of a puppy and being all responsible is really hot. Maybe while I visit, we could..." Her voice was suggestive and she didn't need to say more for him to catch her drift. Of course she wasn't referring to sex, but she could at least let him have second base.

"Wait, I thought it was off the table. A dog is what it takes," Tony seriously asked.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Not that! I was talking about making out."

"Oh," he frowned. "Third base, and we'll call it a deal."

"Two and a half," Pepper amended.

"Nice try, but that doesn't exist. You're the one trading favors. Take it or leave it."

"You know, I was being nice. I could have offered you nothing."

"But you didn't," Tony pointed out, a smile on his face. "Afraid you won't be able to keep your hands off me?"

"You should be asking yourself that," Pepper retorted.

"Everything that happened that night was your fault."

Well, she couldn't argue that. She hummed in response and her attention went back to Snickers as he stuck his paw out the square spaces of the gate that was separating him from the outside world.

"Relax, I was kidding," he told her. In all honesty, he just wanted to spend time with her. Whatever they did, it didn't matter. These last three days made him feel normal again and it was cause of her.

She softly smiled. She knew Tony was just giving her a hard time. They were slowly trying to pick up the pieces and she was grateful for that. He had his own list of defects and she had hers. The both of them had made a lot of progress in these past couple days and she could finally say things were looking up.

"You can come over Sunday. I'm gonna get him settled inside the house, let him get used to it. Plus, I gotta go to the dog store and-"

"It's pet store. Dog stores don't exist," she corrected.

"That's weird. You'd think someone would start one given how many dogs people have. They'd make billions."

"Maybe you're destined to become an entrepreneur."

"Maybe." Anything beat Stark Industries as far as he was concerned, but he was certain Howard would have his head if he chose a different profession. "See, Pep? That's why I need you. To correct me."

"Lucky me." She tried to sound sarcastic but the faint smile on her face betrayed her.

And just like that 50 minutes passed. They both heard the bells across the campus ring, signaling sixth period.

"I'll walk you to class."

"No, you don't have to," Pepper immediately said, not wanting him to go through the hassle.

"No, I want to." He put Snickers in the backseat of his car and made sure the heater was on so the puppy would not freeze to death. "I get you're independent and all, but let me do something for once."

Pepper nodded and reluctantly grabbed his hand as he held it out for her to grab. "So the funeral is tomorrow." She had said the words slowly and cautiously hoping he wouldn't be mad she brought it up. Scarlett had mentioned it, but he had brushed it off. This time there was no backing out of it.

"Wow, really," Tony responded sarcastically.

"Oh, you didn't know that," she responded in the same mocking manner, knowing full well Tony's sarcasm was only a deflection tactic.

He chuckled. "It's alright if you bring it up."

She felt relieved, but said nothing about it.

"But, yeah, it is. Service starts at eight and ends at twelve. I'm flying over to New York tonight. I would have asked you to be there, but it's going to be boring, and I don't want to put you through that."

"If you want me there, I will. Just tell me."

"Nah, I'm fine, Pepper. But thanks for wanting to do that for me."

"Anytime." A smile crossed her lips as she brought herself closer to him, leaning into his side until she was resting against his shoulder. "Didn't you say you had this really awesome Valentine's Day idea?"

Tony shook his head. "Not uh. You have to wait two more weeks. Just like all the other girls."

"At least tell me if I have to get dressed up. That doesn't ruin anything."

He thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, but bring an extra set of clothes. The comfy kind."

Pepper turned to look at him curiously. "What are you planning?" She really wanted in on it.

"Two weeks," he just repeated as they came to a stop in front of her AP Literature class. "It's not that long."

"Well, when you make it all secretive, it is."

He laughed when she tried to put on her best hurt face. "Pepper, you should know by now that putting on a pout does nothing to me. I just think it's cute and adorable. That's it."

"Fine." She gave up and settled with what she had. She hated surprises, because of its suspense, but she was teaching herself how to be patient. "I won't ruin our night. I'm actually really excited for it."

"Now you sound sarcastic."

"I'm not. I promise. I can't wait," she said with a smile.

"Better. You should put your hair down more often. It's nice." He lifted his hand to move a strand of hair that had covered her face because of the winter wind before resting it on her cheek, her twinkling blue eyes meeting his brown ones. He thought about everything they'd been through and how hard he had worked to get her to realize that he did have true feelings for her and how close he had gotten to tossing that aside all for a misunderstanding. She was right. Communication is important.

"You're not going to tell me you love me for real, right?"

One of his brows quirked up to his forehead when he heard that. "You think I was going to?" Tony could tell it was a serious question, but he was also aware of the fact that she was trying to play it off as casually as possible and that had worked for a moment.

"I don't know." Her cheeks blushed and she averted her stare for a quick second. "You have this look on your face and whenever you're near me you turn all sweet and affectionate. The signs are there."

"I give you a compliment and you think I'm about to say I love you. Should I go back to being a dick again?"

"You better not." she teased, her tone the same as his had been. "Because I'll hit you in the nuts if you do."

"You know that saying is true? Nice girls are dangerous." He wasn't sure if he had handled that properly. Was he supposed to tell her he did? He couldn't, not because he didn't, he actually hoped he was getting there, but because he wasn't sure what love was himself. It was a concept that was foreign to him.

"I'm not dangerous. I'm harmless. You can ask anyone." She waited until the coast was clear and hit him square in the chest.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Before another word escaped his lips, her AP Lit teacher came up. "She hit me."

"Nice to see you around, Stark." It was all Mr. Hunt said.

"Are you serious," Tony called out to the teacher's form as the adult disappeared into the classroom to get himself prepared for lecture. "What an asshole." He rolled his eyes when he heard her laughing. "I was telling the truth. Hunt didn't even think about it. It's because you have that innocent look down pat."

Pepper smiled. "I am innocent."

"Yeah, sure you are," he dismissed. "Have fun, alright?"

She nodded. It was time for her to head into class but these days neither one of them wanted to say goodbye to other, most likely because they had spent so much time apart, almost a month, that they were trying to get it back.

"Come here." She smiled as he pulled her into an embrace, her head tucked under his chin and her eyes closed. It was comforting and she was glad things had worked out between them when it seemed like chances were stacked against them.

She lifted her head up from his chest and turned up to look at him only to see him smiling down at her, and before she knew it, her lips were attached to his. The kiss was slow and tender at first and she was the one who chose to deepen it. His hands move from her waist to her hips and he slowly slipped them beneath her jacket. Several minutes passed before they broke apart, the two of them needing to catch their breath, their foreheads resting together the second the kiss ended.

I'm going on vacation for a couple weeks so it'll be awhile before I update. The next chapter is in progress and I can try to finish it, but I'll have to make it short. Would you guys like that or would you rather wait? Let me know below and I'll take it from there guys :)