HAPPY HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Oh boy. So I have stories about this one. About this horrendously LONG WAIT! So, first semester of college is a given here, and I'm going to give you guys a piece of advice. Do NOT take 3 writing intensive classes in one semester. It sucks the fun out of writing like a vacuum. :( Also, writers block that I magically cured in one night. For this story. Alone. BUUUUUT, I'm on break until the 29th, so hopefully I'll get something else out there for you guys. Anywho, I feel like this seems shorter, but by word count its the same, so hopefully that's not a problem. :) Hope you guys are still out there reading. If not, oh well. Just kidding, I miss you all!

Disclaimer: IMAA belongs to its rightful owners, which is not me.

Turns out, Tony is very aware of personal bubbles. At least, now he is. Ever since their kiss on the roof a few days ago, he's all but pulled back on all forms of contact with Pepper. Every once in awhile she would catch him almost reaching for her hand, before he hesitantly pulled back before she saw—but she did. She saw nearly every single attempt to hold her hand every almost hug, and even that one time he almost went in for a kiss. She had to wonder if she was giving off confusing signals or something.

"Do you think I scared him off?" Pepper wondered aloud.

"By kissing him?" Annie asked. "Didn't he initiate it?"

"Sure, but I taunted it, and maybe he wasn't expecting me to want to kiss him?"

Annie laughed; loud and genuine. "You think you scared him because you wanted to kiss him? What kind of logic is that?"

"I don't know," Pepper defended. She ran her hands through her hair a few times. "Do I come off too strong?"

"If anything, you're not coming off strong enough," Annie said. "I think you guys need to stop beating around the bush and make it official. No more of this weird 'are we dating?' stuff or 'he doesn't like me' deal. Because you guys are undoubtedly meant for each other."

Pepper bit her bottom lip, perhaps too hard in thought. She really did like Tony, probably more than she'd ever expected to like a boy when she first came to this school. Well, to be honest, she wasn't even looking for that kind of relationship, to begin with, so when Tony came along, and her stupid heart had to flutter weirdly every time he smiled or stop everytime their eyes met, she didn't know what to do. Not to mention all the things her body does when he touches her, be it normal things like bumping her when he was nabbing her grapes or more intimate things like kisses or when he ran his hand through her hair. All these things combined, it turned her normal, high functioning brain into mush and she forgets how to think, let alone function.

"Do you see what I mean?" Annie inquired when Pepper remained silent.

"I guess," Pepper muttered with a shrug. "I'm just...scared."

Annie pressed up tightly against her side, her feet kicking out to the other side of the couch. "Oh, Pepper! It'll be fine, I know. I'll tell you what; you want to know a secret that might just soothe your worries?"

For that, Pepper was all ears.

"Would it be too much if I tattooed your name over my heart?"

Lifting her head from her study packet, she stared. She hoped to find some sign that the blue-eyed boy was kidding and was only trying to pull something over her. Except, he looked dead serious. "Maybe a bit too soon."

Instead of frowning in disappointment, his eyes lit up. "But not too much?"

She sighed and plopped a raspberry in her mouth. She really was going to let him down. "It might be a bit much too."

There's the frown. "Okay...not on the heart. But how about on my wrist or something. Still—"

"Too much?" she finished. "Yes. No...uhm... maybe? Don't you think tattooing my name, or anyone's name for that matter, isn't a good idea? I mean, what if you don't like it or if it's done wrong or you change your mind? You can't undo that. And then my name is stuck on your skin forever. And what if...I don't know..."

He was silent for several moments, spinning a pen between his fingers at a speed that always captivated her attention for some reason. He had a weird look on his face that could either be of deep thought, disappointment or maybe even worry. He remained silent as he pushed his lunch to the side, apparently not hungry as he hasn't touched it all hour. He hasn't been touching any of his meals lately; only picking at the fruit or bread occasionally.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Tony finally spoke. "My feelings for you won't fade away anytime soon." he turned and smiled at her, a hand crept to rest on her own, before pulling back to rest beside it. "Besides, I'm happy to be sitting by your side until the day I die."

Any rebuttal she had set up died on the tip of her tongue. "That's a long time," she breathed out stupidly.

Tony gave a nervous laugh, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck. "I mean, I'd obviously give you space and privacy. And maybe it won't be until the day I die. You'll probably get tired of me and kick me out before then. Because I don't even know if you…mmph!"

She cut him off in that moment, surprising even herself as she captured his rambling lips with hers. Her hands firmly held his face between her palms as if to keep him in place if only for a few moments before he softly kissed back. She dropped her hands to comfortably rest on his shoulders until she finally pulled back.

"What was that?" he asked

Breathless, she shrugged, trying not to show how much she had just flustered herself with one kiss. "Just, y'know, reminding you that I like you. I really like you."

She would never be able to prepare herself for the heart-stopping sight of Tony; eyes wide, mouth propped open ever so slightly, and face so cherry red, she could feel the heat emanating from it. A look so genuinely and pleasantly surprised, and all of it, because of her.

She loved Annie's secrets.

The surprises weren't over as suddenly; Tony's forgotten about his weird 'give Pepper her personal space' thing as he practically tackled her to the floor, her lunch and study packet pushed aside. His face was nuzzled up in her neck, his breath tickling her softly.

"I really like you, too."

The thing about the snow melting and the weather being about ten times nicer than it was only two weeks ago, was it rained. Well, at the moment it was raining, and the usual, hurried bustle of the city quickly became a wet, cold race to get indoors no matter where that meant. At least in the city block, Pepper happened to be on that weekend afternoon.

Her dad had warned her about the weather and suggested it probably would be best to cancel her afternoon plans, but stubborn Pepper had to refuse and go out. Without her umbrella. In her defense, it had been sunnier than ever all morning, and up until around 2 o'clock, there were no signs of a single raindrop.

When she first moved out here, she learned that rain didn't mean the city got idle. Which was what she initially thought, because who wants to be out in the rain? Little did she know New York City was made of people just as stubborn as she, some even more so. So, when she left to do a few errands for the afternoon, she expected that, if it did happen to rain, she'd at least be free to rush from store to store and avoid getting terribly wet. In hindsight, she should have just brought a stupid umbrella.

Wringing her gloves dry underneath a store awning, she pulled her phone out of her coat pocket. A few taps and an angry shake of her phone, the map pulled up. She thought she was over the whole Googling her route to stores, at least in this area, but lo and behold, the craze of the city to get out of the rain had basically herded her into a whole new area, and now she was lost. She tried to find her way back to somewhere familiar, had even thought about calling a taxi to bring her back to the right neighborhood, but all taxis were full, and she managed to get even more lost.

"Ugh," she groaned when her phone decided to freeze up on her. Turns out dropping it had done more damage than just to the screen. Or it was just old.

Guess she was going to have to find her way back the old fashioned way as he dad would call it: asking for directions. Taking a quick glance toward the sign of the building she was standing in front of, she stepped in the wide, glass doors The heat hitting her face from inside was more welcome than she would have expected as she smiled at the employee in greeting.

"Hey," she greeted. "Can you help me?"

She pocketed her phone as she approached the front counter, the soft music becoming more clear as she left the pitter patter of rain outside. Though, it was the smell that quickly reminded her of her dad's garage. Yep, definitely an automotive shop.

A young man, probably not much older than herself, nodded. "Sure thing, what can I help you with? A certain part you need?"

She laughed, kind of embarrassed. She sees why her mom hates asking for directions now. "Actually, I'm a little new to the city, and I just need help getting somewhere."

As she explained her plight, she got a good feel for the place. From the name of the shop, it wasn't a high-end, chain shop. At least not one she was used to seeing. It was small but didn't seem short on supply of anything. It must be family owned, she decided.

"...take a left from there, and you should be there in a just a couple of blocks," the store attendant finished.

"Thank you," she smiled, taking one last glance at the place.

Automotive parts, or cars in general, weren't of Pepper's interest, but something about this place was catching her eye. Though at the moment, soaked and chilled to the bone, she couldn't place what had her so intrigued. Did she have something on her list that she needed to get here? Standing off to the side for other customers to be serviced, she pulled her list from her pocket. Crumpled and a little damp from the downpour, the list was starting to get difficult to read; especially since she wrote in pencil. Great.

"Do you need me to write down the directions?" the employee, Don, by the nametag, asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm just thinking."

"Ah," he smiled. "Think away!"

"Actually," she started. "I'm just going to browse a little bit. I might need something."

He gestured as if to say 'have a look' and returned to his duties of manning the cash register. She wandered off, knowing full well her list didn't include anything that this place would offer but hoping to ease the sudden strange feeling that she did need something from here. Several isles of car batteries, light bulbs, and all sorts of different tools she couldn't name later, she was out of luck on sparking her memory.

A ding in her pocket reminded her that she should probably head out before it got too dark out. She pulled her phone out, that was thankfully working much better after it had its small break, and smiled at who it was: Tony.

Tony! That's what had her stuck in here! She had gone to hang out with him the other day, the same day, actually, that they had finally affirmed their feelings for each other, and he had been tinkering with something. What, she had no idea, but either way, he was working on something and the part he was working with broke. He had been upset about it because it was a gift from his dad but assured it was easily replaceable, but he probably wouldn't get to it for a bit. Meaning, Pepper could finally get something for Tony that he didn't already have that she could probably afford.

Except, she had one problem.

She had no clue what it was...or if they even had it here. After all, it was bought by Howard Stark. It could have been specially ordered for all she knew. Okay, so maybe she hadn't thought this all the way through.

But she could try.

The instant she rang the doorbell, she regretted it. For one, it was almost 8 o'clock at night, and she hadn't called ahead to make sure anyone was home or even wanting guests. Second, she forgot how motherly Roberta could get; let alone how motherly Rhodey gets. So the second they answered the door and saw Pepper, in her drenched, shivering glory, carrying all these bags, there were not moments warning before she was dragged into the house with a towel draped over her shoulders. She didn't even want to know what Tony would do when he got out here. He wasn't motherly per se, but that didn't mean he wouldn't overly dote on her to make sure she was okay.

"Pepper!" Rhodey fretted, coming in the living room with handfuls of blankets. "What were you thinking?"

"Uhm…" she couldn't fight the embarrassed flush from hitting her cheeks. "I wasn't?"

He sighed as his mother entered the room, hot chocolate in hand. "Here," she offered. "Have something to drink. You must be thirsty!"

She almost wanted to laugh. The two acted as if she had come to their door hurt and dying, like some stray kitten. Not as someone who just brought their groceries over to their house in all the rain. Which, she guessed probably were soaked thoroughly, unfortunately.

"Thanks," she accepted the drink with eagerness. "Sorry for barging in like this. I guess I was excited."

"Excited?" Rhodey gaped.

Sipping her hot drink slowly, she nodded. "Yeah, I got—"

"Pep!"

There he was.

"Hey Tony," she smiled, licking her chocolate covered lips. "How are you?"

"How am—What?" he was by her side in an instant, his hands firmly holding her shoulders and stared directly into her eyes as if to make sure she could see him alright. "You're freezing!"

She was still shivering pretty bad, but she honestly didn't feel too bad. Truthfully, they were all overreacting. Though, she guessed it was endearing to know they cared enough about her to panic over her wellbeing.

"Yeah, but I got this warm blanket," she said. It was warm and soft. She had to thank Rhodey again for letting her soak it up to keep her warm.

"The blanket may be warm, but your clothes!" Tony's eyes were beyond wide, and it was kind of funny. He pinched the fabric of her shirt that was peeking out from the blanket. "Hold on."

Just like that, he was gone. He zoomed out of the room faster than anyone could protest or agree or say anything.

She found herself laughing out loud. Because she knew exactly what he was doing and instead of being embarrassed like she probably should have been, she laughed. Because she had come here without thinking twice about the time or her own condition, and they didn't even think twice before getting her help. Never even questioned what time it was.

Her laughter suddenly morphed into soft sobs as Tony returned with clothes in one hand a plastic bag in the other. She knew why he ran off, because Tony being Tony, he would never not come back with dry clothes. Yet, the tears still fell. Though at this point, she wasn't sure if it was because of the kind gesture or something else, as it was quickly becoming much more than light sobs.

Tony was at her side in an instant. Awkward and unsure, but still reassuring all the same as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms, asking if she was alright. Asking what was wrong.

"Why are you crying?" he muttered softly, his forehead pressed against her gently. "Hey, you don't need to cry. It's fine."

When her tears didn't subside, she could see through watery eyes as Tony all but pleaded with Rhodey for his help. Which, would have been funny if her stupid heart didn't feel as if it was about to release a freaking waterfall of tears. With the palms of her hands, she wiped away her tears, but they just kept falling along with loud, ugly hiccups she knew always came when she cried this hard. Which was stupid, all he did was bring her dry clothes!

"I...I'm sorry!" she choked out when Tony seemed to get more and more panicky. "It's...it's stupid…"

When Tony's attempts to quell her sobs, Roberta stepped in. The couch cushion shifted, and Pepper was forced to lean against the mother's side, but she didn't fight it. Instead, she found herself leaning closer, unabashedly hiding her wet and teary face into her shoulder. When Roberta's arms wrapped around her shoulders, she didn't realize how much she missed getting hugs from her mom. Mom-hugs were different than dad-hugs, or any hug for that matter. She couldn't explain it. But it's been so long since she's felt this kind of hug and actually felt safe in it. Roberta was softly muttering words into her ear, rocking slightly with the hug and Pepper's sobs turned into shuddering breaths and slowly, but surely she closed her eyes. If only for the moment.

"Thank you," she whispered as she blindly wiped at the final streams of tears.

Roberta helped her stand up and picked up the clothes and bag Tony had dropped in his rush to get to her side. "Here, go get dressed and put your wet clothes in here. I'll put them in the dryer, so they're nice and dry for you."

Pepper let out another string of thanks and nodded to the boys to assure them that she was alright and she wasn't going to die on the spot out of coldness. Then, with no further ado, she went into the bathroom and changed. Looking into the mirror before her as she pulled one of Tony's graphic tees over her head, she noticed just how much of a mess she looked. Her hair was in tangles, her eyes puffy and red, and bags practically hung from her eyes. No wonder they were panicked. She looked like she walked straight out of a movie of the undead.

The baggy graphic tee and sweatpants that thankfully tied around the waist didn't help; especially when she couldn't even see her feet until she rolled the pant legs up.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she was surprised to find Tony walking past with pillows and blankets in tow. Spotting her, he smiled and gestured for her to follow.

As much as she wanted to, as she knew what it entailed, she couldn't accept that much hospitality. "No, I really can't stay."

He stopped and adjusted the mess of blankets in his arms. "What? You can't possibly be thinking about going back in that rain."

"I can call a taxi," she stated simply with a shrug. Seeing the pillows and blankets, while not as tear-inducing as the dry clothes were, had made her realize that she was being more of a burden than they were letting on. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden. "Seriously, it's no trouble."

"No," Tony shook his head. "It's really not a problem. The sofa pulls out into a bed; we just need to pull the coffee table out. Or if that's not comfortable enough, I can sleep there. You can sleep on my bed or—"

"No, I can't—"

"Yes, you can. And you will," Tony insisted, turning and finishing the walk to the living room to drop the bedding onto the chair next to Rhodey. Rhodey raised an eyebrow, eyeing Tony's movements in silence.

"I've already caused enough trouble. I just meant to bring you something, and in my excitement, I didn't think about what time it was by the time I got here. I'll just—"

"You're already here, though," Tony said. "And like I said, it's no trouble. It's not like there's school tomorrow and it's only about 9, so it's not too late. Actually, we were going to watch a movie. Wanna join?"

"You can always decide after the movie," Rhodey shrugged. "If you still don't want to stay, I'll drive you home."

A hand enveloped hers, and she was surprised to find that it was Tony. She stared into his eyes for several moments, and suddenly she could see why he was so persistent. He wanted her to stay. Not because he was worried for her wellbeing—at least, that wasn't the entire reason—but because he was excited. Excited and hopeful and something else she couldn't quite place, but surely it was in her own eyes as well.

And how could she say no to those eyes?

Movie night was much more successful than last time. Tony and Rhodey pulled out the hideaway bed, and the three sandwiched themselves on there as Roberta lounged at the lazy boy chair with a bowl of popcorn propped on her lap. Pepper had fallen asleep a few times throughout the movie, finally passing out for the night just before the conclusion of the movie, much to Tony's disappointment. But when she woke up that morning, bright and early, she didn't know how to feel about finding that Tony had situated himself on the chair Roberta was in during the movie.

Had he done that one purpose?

Tony was still lazily sprawled out the chair, arms were thrown every which way and one foot was peeking out from under the soft blanket when Rhodey came strolling into the living room all decked out in his pajamas. He spared Tony one glance before eyeing Pepper as if gauging her response. "Morning."

She nodded in response, not wanting to wake up her blue-eyed genius. She ran a hand through her beyond tangled locks and quietly groaned.

"Shower's that way," Rhodey whispered.

She looked around the room, gathering her thoughts. She felt her heart swell when she saw her clothes all dry and folded up on the coffee table. She finally shook her head. "I should probably go. Besides, I probably have to go get new frozen groceries…"

"Nah," Rhodey sat down beside her. "Mom threw them in the freezer in the garage for you when you were changing. They fit you, you know. Tony's clothes."

"I'm practically swimming in them," Pepper pointed out.

Rhodey just shrugged. "I don't know, I think they look nice of you. Besides, I'm surprised he gave them to you. He's generally weird about others wearing his clothes. Whitney, even with how long they've known each other, never got to wear anything of his."

A fact Pepper never knew about Tony. Nor would she have ever guessed. Not because it didn't seem like something Tony would do, but because she's seen otherwise. Experienced otherwise. If she ever forgot her hat or gloves when they were out together, Tony wouldn't hesitate to give her his straight off his own body. Or that particularly cold day at home without heat when he borrowed her his sweater. She never thought twice about those occurrences, but knowing now that he didn't usually offer up such assistance to people, even people he's been close to...

She smiled. "Really?"

Rhodey nodded before he sighed. "I'm sorry."

Her smile faded. "What for?"

"Just…" Their eyes met for a long, painful second before he shook his head. "I'm sorry," he repeated before patting her knee and walking off.

She wanted to follow but found that she couldn't. She knew he wouldn't expand on his words, at least not yet. The two boys were both good at keeping tight-lipped. It came with the territory she supposed. But it was frustrating sometimes.

Though, speaking of Rhodey. She hadn't noticed it until now, but he didn't seem to be acting quite so...standoffish as he has been lately with Tony. Actually, if anything, he seemed quite the opposite; almost clingy, if someone asked her. Despite the two boys making up after whatever fight they were going through, Rhodey still seemed off. But she couldn't place it yet.

She gave a sigh of her own, glancing over at Tony who slept peacefully, unaware of the inner turmoil that was now swimming in Pepper's gut. One last look, she moved to gather her clothes. She was going to change, maybe thank Rhodey or Roberta, if she was around, for their hospitality and return Tony's clothes before heading out. She'll leave her present on the table with the clothes, she supposed. She wanted to see his face when she gave it to him, but she was such a mess last night, she hadn't even brought his present out, and he didn't ask.

Her first mission was a success. Her clean, dry clothes smelt oddly familiar and fresh. It was Tony's scent. Well, it was Rhodey's scent as well, she couldn't deny. And Roberta's. But either way. It smelt nice. The clean clothes on, she folded the clothes she was borrowed and put them by Tony's open door. He'll find them later.

Roberta was drinking coffee in the kitchen over freshly cooked eggs. "Morning, Pepper."

"Morning," she greeted. "I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me last night. It was very kind of you guys. I had something for Tony in one of the bags…are they—"

"I have them all set up and ready to go," Roberta gestured to a pile of bags in the corner. "Rhodey said you were heading out."

A pang of guilt hit Pepper harder than she expected. Roberta didn't outright say it, but Pepper had the feeling the woman felt a little disappointed to see her go. "Yeah, I forgot to tell dad I was here and I can't impose any more than I already have. But thanks again!"

Roberta sighed but didn't argue. "If you must leave, just say goodbye to Tony before you leave. It'd make him happy."

Pepper couldn't find her words anymore, so she could only nod, and she moved to gather her bags. On second thought, maybe she'll be able to see Tony's face once she gave it to him after all.

"And Pepper?" Roberta called when Pepper was almost out of the kitchen. She turned back. "He knows. Your dad, I mean. I called him last night to let him know."

Well, that was a weight lifted off her shoulders. She smiled and gave her thanks before heading towards the door. Tony was on the way, so that was an added bonus.

Except, when she arrived in the living room. He was still out cold. Roberta had asked her to say goodbye before she left, but that required waking the boy up. Besides, that also meant explaining that she was practically ditching him and she'd have to explain all over again, except this time she didn't really have an excuse. Not one Tony would accept. So she only gently placed the gift she bought for Tony on the table beside him and resisted the urge to kiss his forehead before she left.

She didn't know why, but she wanted to cry.

Tony wasn't at school on Monday. It was raining again. Pepper was developing a terrible cold thanks to her crazy exhibition on Saturday. Monday's were the worst. At least this one was. She should have stayed home herself.

"You've seen better days."

She really should have stayed home. "What do you want, Whitney?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow, but obviously, bit back whatever comment she was going to make. Instead, she smiled tersely and said, "Nothing, I just wanted to talk."

"Not here to talk to Tony?" Pepper questioned. "'Cuz he's not here."

If there was any time she could think of that was the worst time to talk to her, let alone with Whitney of all people, now would be it. Her head hurt far more than it should for the amount of medicine she had taken, she couldn't breathe out of her nose, and her throat was drier than sandpaper. The clicks of Whitney's heels as she approached her were like nails on a chalkboard.

"Nope. I'm here to talk to you." Whitney promised. "We haven't had the chance to actually talk."

I wonder why, Pepper barely kept herself from voicing aloud. "Yeah?" she settled with after a moment.

"Yeah," Whitney echoed.

Pepper set aside the homework she was working on and crossed her arms, trying to look at least like she was willing to talk. "So?"

"Right," the blonde laughed. It sounded forced. "How have you been?"

Boy, was Whitney bad at small talk. Pepper almost felt bad for her. Almost. "Eh," she grumbled out. "Fine."

"I can see that," Whitney said.

Silence fell between the two and Pepper's pretty sure she's never experienced such awkward silence like this. Ever. And she's sat through a lot. But as this was a conversation she didn't want to have in the first place, it was a lot more frustrating to her than it was awkward.

"Seriously," she finally broke the silence, "what do you want?"

Whitney's eyes narrowed. "Nothing! I honestly just wanted to talk!"

"Well, I don't want to talk."

"Fine," Whitney scoffed. "I was going to offer my condolences. I heard what happened."

It was bait. Blatantly so, but Pepper took it anyway.

"What are you talking about?"

"Tony, isn't it horrible?" Whitney questioned, moving to sit closer as if she was concerned.

"Tony's fine. He's probably just skipping." Pepper waved her off.

Whitney's eyes widened. "You didn't hear, did you?"

Yep, her headache was becoming a migraine. And Whitney's now the sole instigator on that one. But she decided to play along. "No, why? What happened?"

For a moment, Whitney looked truly saddened, as if the news she was about to break would hurt Pepper. "He was brought to the hospital yesterday. Apparently, it's pretty bad. I'm surprised Rhodey's still—"

But Pepper was already gone and the tears she held back yesterday were threatening to come back in full force.

She should have said goodbye.

I'd laugh evilly, but...that would be cruel. I'll try not to wait the whole next semester of classes to fix what I have just done. I didn't want to do it (I usually do...but not now) but I had to considering, I have a small feeling that this story is nearing its end. Or so I kind of hope, before this story drags on too long. I want to actually give you guys a finished piece for once in my life. But don't worry, I'm not trying to rush it to its end, it's living its natural course as a story. :)

Fun Fact: I somehow managed to get a really nice roommate who's into just about everything I'm into...except Marvel. T_T but we're planning to study abroad in Japan together, so Whoo!

So you guys are probably going to hear about my college life in my updates now, but I'll try not to be overbearing about it.

Alright, so leave a review and let me know if you're still out there and wanting more. :) Maybe it'll kick me into gear next semester to write you guys something good. Haha, just kidding. I'll always try to write you good stuff.

Hugs and Love, SilverPedals~!

P.S. Please don't take 3 writing intensive courses in college. ;P