Over the next few months Pepper saw Tony less and less. He was always busy in the lab with Bruce, in his workshop with Clint, or on a mission and she was busy running Stark Industries. On the rare occasion that they both had a gap in their schedules they would get lunch together but overall the time they spent together diminished. In early February Pepper managed to get her first weekend off in almost 2 months. Since Tony was away in Germany for some convention she accepted Natasha's invitation of a girls night in the tower.
It was no surprise to Pepper to pass by Clint in the hallway wearing only his boxers; this was in fact his floor as well as Natasha's. Plus, it's not like she was going to complain about it. She smiled as she passed by before slipping into Tasha's room. Nat was sitting on the couch with a tub of ice cream, nail polish, and a nice selection of movies resting on the coffee table in front of her.
"Hey Pepper," Natasha greeted her without even turning around, "What do you think, Eat Pray Love or Mean Girls?"
"Mean Girls, definitely." Pepper answered kicking off her flip flops and falling onto the couch next Tasha. Pepper grabbed the ice cream while Natasha put in the movie and propped her bare feet up on the coffee table. The pair ate half of the ice cream while the movie played; not saying much until the credits began and Nat began painting her finger nails a crimson red. "So, how's Tony doing?" The assassin asked without looking up from the task at hand.
Pepper sighed and leaned her head back, "Fine, I suppose. I don't get to see him much anymore. So much has changed; I mean he's not just Iron Man anymore, he's an Avenger. He has more responsibility than ever and I have taken over the company so I never get time off either." She said without stopping for a breath.
Natasha nodded her head, "I can only imagine. I'm just glad you two finally cut to the chase. It took long enough." She chuckled.
Pepper laughed, "Yeah it did, and since we're on the subject, what about you and Clint?"
Natasha looked up from her hand, "Why does everyone think that I'm sleeping with Clint or secretly in love with him!" She yelled.
"So, you aren't secretly in love with him? I just assumed…" Pepper trailed off.
Tasha laughed, "Nope, not even a little bit. Clint's my best friend and I would do anything for him and vice versa but that's as far as our relationship goes."
Pepper nodded, taking in the information, "When was the last time Clint was in a relationship?" She asked curiously.
Natasha hummed for a moment, "About 9 months before the Loki incident I believe, he had a thing with an Agent named Ryan for a while."
"A guy?" Pepper raised an eyebrow.
Natasha nodded, "Mmhmm, I guess this isn't exactly common knowledge but Clint tends to wander on both sides of the fence. He was raised in a circus so I suppose that things like that weren't really the strangest." She shrugged blowing on her nails.
Pepper pondered that for a moment before checking the time, it was past midnight. "It's getting late, I'm gonna hit the hay. Thanks for this." She smiled at her best friend.
"It was my pleasure." Natasha smiled.
Pepper excused herself and headed for the elevator, passing Clint yet again in the hallway, this time he was fully dressed but his short looked familiar, "Hey Clint, where did you get that shirt?" She asked.
Clint looked down and pulled the shirt over his head, "Oh yeah, Tony let me borrow it the other day when I got grease on mine in the workshop and I haven't gotten around to retuning it. Throw it in his hamper would you?" He asked tossing her the shirt.
Pepper smiled, "Of course." She caught the shirt and headed for the elevator, pressing the button for Tony's pent house room. She put his shirt in the dirty laundry and changed into a pair of pajama's before lying down and falling asleep.